Trees, and time for close ups!

As I continue with my Donnybrook project, along side this I'm also working on building and painting/modelling wargaming terrain and scenery - playing catch up after butterflying between projects for the last 20 years, and not really getting anywhere in all that time! Last summer, I built my terrain boards, I've been working on some buildings, and 'fluff' (see the last post), and finally, I've got round to making and basing up some trees, items which  are just about essential on many wargaming  tables, in one form or another.

Somewhere in Spain.....this is more a 'Birch' type tree, with lighter foliage and bark.

 

Inspired by an excellent article in Wargames, Soldiers and Strategy, I bought some plastic tree frames made by Woodland Scenics, and some of their foliage clump packs - Medium green and light green shades. The tree frames were cleaned up, and flash scraped off, then the tree limbs and branches were twisted into place. I then painted the tree sprues up using the Wargames Foundry Granite No.31 triad, or WF Granite No 31 c shade, which were then drybrushed with pale grey up to white, for a more 'silver birch' type tree.   The trees were glued to 60mm circular bases, from Warbases, and based up in my usual manner, leaving off the static grass and foliage, and given a coat of matt varnish.

The first of the two trees, with a Foundry Rifleman painted up as a bugler of the 5/6oth Royal American Rifles for scale

Next came the fun bit! Gluing on the foliage took a while - selecting clumps, and sticking them on with super glue, but the process is worth it! These clumps were 'sealed' with diluted PVA, to prevent the loosest of pieces from falling off, and when the glue was dry, I then applied the final grass and base foliage. The ultimate question is, is it worth it? Well, each tree (and so far I've made 3 of these out of a pack of twelve) has taken about 3 hours to make. But they have cost just over £2 each to make, and for unique trees, I don't think this is too bad.

Frenchies lurking somewhere in the trees!

 

Along side these bits of timber, there's also a Games Workshop 'style' tree, that I bought at the Derby show last autumn. This has been based up in the same manner, and adds a bit of variety. I've also had a try at making my own trees, out of twisted wire, but these aren't finished yet, and are for a future post.

My 'Silver Birch' type tree, and the GW tree.

I've also been messing about with lighting and my camera phone, trying out close-ups and so forth. I think some of these have worked, so watch this space for future pics of Donnybrook stuff! I'm now at the point where I can finish off my NMA faction Musketeers, so see you soon!



I think the fusilier on the right realised the camera was pointing at him! French infantry advance.... a future project....

Peninsular Architecture.. and some voltigeurs!

Here are some of my French Napoleonics again - this time with added Voltigeurs! Two of the chaps have been done so far, and the next two have been started, but have been packed away with the house cleaning mentioned in my last post etc. Hopefully they will be done soon! When I have them all done, I'll post some more details on paints used and colour schemes etc, but safe to say it's a mix of Foundry and Games Workshop colours. Figures are Foundry (naturally!), and the buildings are from Hovels 'Spanish' or Peninsular War range.The two buildings are H11 Double three storey house with ornate balcony (without the balcony!) and H13 Taverna with arched porch. You might spot some cut up bits of the door mat that makes up the wheatfield, that I've added to the stable interior at the back of the Taverna. This was mixed in with PVA glue and added on to the floor of the building. The paint scheme for the buildings eludes me at the moment, as I have packed away my card files, but I have to say as a wargamer, make a record of paints or combinations of colours you use! It's saved me much heartache over the years, as I can refer back to colour mixes that I've tried. Only problem is, that like much of my stuff, it's temporarily in storage!

On another note, I've started on my Impetus armies - work on some Swiss Handgunners began on Monday night. Hopefully next time, I'll have some pics! See you soon!!

 

 

Grenadier Company

Hello again! Below are the latest addition to my French infantry battalion - the Grenadier company. These chaps seem to have taken ages, but finally they're completed. They are all Wargames Foundry figures, and as three of them are all the same figure, I've tried to introduce a bit of variety to them, with different coloured overalls, patches, blankets etc. To the right, you can see them in marching order with the First Company, and below, in the courtyard of a tavern somewhere in southern France, before marching off en route to Spain. The final figure in the company is the Sapeur, wearing his bearskin and brandishing his axe. Although sappers would normally have been with the 'Head of the Column', they were often drawn from the Grenadier company, and I like to think that he has returned to see some old comrades in arms - in truth it was just to break up the monotony of the same grenadier figure!

I hope you like them - next up will be the other 'elite' company of the battalion - the Voltigeurs - or light company. See you soon!

Hello again - with a new project!

Hi everyone. Firstly, an apology for being away so long - I know it's been a big gap between posts, but I lost the blogging 'bug' for a while. Any way, it's nice to be back, and there's a new project in the offing! Mauritzania is on the back burner for various reasons (which I'll go in to at another time), but don't fear - it will be back!

Anyway, the new project...... well it involves the alleged pinnacle of wargaming - 28mm Napoleonics. I have had a copy of the Black Powder rule set for a while, but haven't got round to trying it out yet. The idea is to build up two forces to carry out a Peninsular War scrap on a small scale, using various amendments to the rules that I've picked up from various blogs and wargaming websites. Judging by various comments, the ability to be amended appears to be the beauty of Black Powder, in the sense that it gives a great framework that can be tweaked to fit the situation of the individual gamer. In my case, it's a lack of space, limited funds and only a certain amount of painting time........like most gamers then I guess!

First up then is the start of my French forces. I've had some of these figures - from Wargames Foundry - for about 8 years, but failed to get any paint on them.... until now. This is the first fusilier company of my first battalion, somewhere in Spain circa 1813. Enjoy! Next up will be the grenadier company, in a few days time. Until then...au revoir!